Encouraged by the possibility of talks between India and Pakistan, the Obama administration has said the two south Asian neighbours share a number of important interests -- from tackling terrorism to encouraging trade.
Washington and several cities in America's East Coast set a record since 1899 for snowfall after a blizzard slammed the region on Thursday for the second time this week.
The Kashmiri Pandit leadership from across the United States, led by California-based community activist Jeevan Zutshi, last week met senior Obama administration officials at the State Department and lawmakers on Capitol Hill to implore them to help address the plight of the Pandits in India.
The Obama administration welcomed the Indian proposal to hold talks with Pakistan at the level of foreign secretary on Thursday.
Noting that the country was on track to have the largest economy by 2050, US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Robert Blake said, "India is a rising giant whose influence is being felt not only in the Indian Ocean, but in the Americas, in Africa, West Asia, and in Central Asia."
"There's nothing we see that indicates that Mullah Omar will, in fact, change his stripes; as a result, we don't see that he qualifies to play a constructive role in Afghanistan's future," State Department spokesman P J Crowley told media persons.
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